Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Precision Instruments, Chemical and Retail sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.02% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (T:4506), which rose 6.08% or 167.0 points to trade at 2914.0 at the close. Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. (T:1332) added 4.39% or 32.0 points to end at 761.0 and Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976) was up 4.29% or 94.0 points to 2286.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (T:9107), which lost 2.86% or 45.0 points to trade at 1527.0 in late trade. Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004) declined 2.77% or 115.0 points to end at 4030.0 and Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (T:4005) shed 2.54% or 14.0 points to 538.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1959 to 1509 and 243 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.66% to 16.78.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.82% or 0.47 to $57.69 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 0.78% or 0.52 to hit $66.83 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.51% or 6.75 to trade at $1309.35 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.47% to 111.89, while EUR/JPY rose 0.34% to 127.06.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.24% at 96.278.